{"id":24264,"date":"2026-07-12T11:38:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T08:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/?p=24264"},"modified":"2026-07-12T11:38:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T08:38:59","slug":"spacex-kardashev-milion-suputnikiv-cyvilizaciya-ii-typu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/science-tech\/spacex-kardashev-milion-suputnikiv-cyvilizaciya-ii-typu\/","title":{"rendered":"A million SpaceX satellites: how Elon Musk is bringing humanity closer to the level of \u201cgods\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"news-lead\">Elon Musk and SpaceX have announced their intention to launch up to a million satellites to create orbital data centres, which, according to Musk, is the first step towards achieving a Type II civilisation on the Kardashev scale. This concept, proposed by the Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev in the 1960s, classifies civilisations according to their level of energy use. Experts acknowledge that Musk\u2019s idea is ambitious, but its implementation faces numerous technical and environmental challenges, and the transition to Type II itself remains a matter of debate.<\/p>\n<div class=\"news-summary-box\">\n<p><strong>Briefly about the main points<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>SpaceX has submitted a request to launch up to a million satellites for space-based data centres.<\/li>\n<li>Musk describes this as the first step towards a Type II civilisation according to the Kardashev scale.<\/li>\n<li>The Kardashev scale classifies civilisations according to their level of energy use.<\/li>\n<li>Experts doubt whether a complete transition to Type II is realistic.<\/li>\n<li>Research shows that humanity has not yet even reached Type I.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>SpaceX\u2019s plans: a million satellites and orbital data centres<\/h2>\n<p>In 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/science-tech\/washington-stavyt-pid-sumniv-perspektyvy-rozvytku-shtuchnoho-intelektu\/\">SpaceX<\/a> has submitted an application to the US Federal Communications Commission seeking permission to launch up to one million new satellites. The aim is to create data centres in orbit, which will enable computing power to be located beyond Earth.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Elon Musk<\/strong> in a video message and a statement on the company\u2019s website, he said <strong>This project is the first step towards a Type II civilisation on the Kardashev scale<\/strong>. He believes that the use of space-based energy and infrastructure could mark the next stage in humanity\u2019s development, although experts stress that this is only an initial attempt.<\/p>\n<h2>What is the Kardashev scale, and where does humanity stand on it?<\/h2>\n<p>The Kardashev scale, proposed by a Soviet astronomer <strong>Mykola Kardashov<\/strong> in 1964, classifies civilisations according to the amount of energy they can utilise. Type I involves the full utilisation of a planet\u2019s energy, Type II that of a star, and Type III that of an entire galaxy.<\/p>\n<p>An American astronomer <strong>Carl Sagan<\/strong> In the 1970s, he proposed a refinement: humanity was then at a level of approximately 0.7 on the scale. Recent studies estimate humanity\u2019s current level at 0.7276, with a forecast that it will reach 0.7449 by 2060. The transition to Type I could take millennia without any technological breakthroughs.<\/p>\n<h2>Technical and environmental challenges of the transition to Type II<\/h2>\n<p>According to experts, even the launch of a million satellites is merely the first step. A complete transition to Type II would require harnessing the energy of the entire Solar System, which would call for materials whose total mass exceeds that of all the asteroids in the asteroid belt.<\/p>\n<p>Some academics, such as <strong>Philip Metzger<\/strong>, believe that the development of industry in space \u2014 for example, the construction of factories on the Moon \u2014 is a more realistic approach than attempts to utilise all of Earth\u2019s energy. At the same time, such projects do not yet have political support.<\/p>\n<h2>The search for extraterrestrial civilisations and the Dyson sphere<\/h2>\n<p>The Kardashev scale has formed the basis for the search for extraterrestrial civilisations, particularly through the concept of the Dyson sphere \u2014 a hypothetical structure designed to harvest a star\u2019s energy. A 2024 study of 5 million stars identified seven candidates for such structures, but their rarity suggests that Type II civilisations are either unique or extremely difficult to achieve.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists point out that these candidates may be false positives, and research is ongoing. The search for infrared radiation from such objects may help in the detection of highly advanced civilisations, although there is as yet no confirmed evidence.<\/p>\n<h2>Will space-based data centres change the approach to energy?<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/science-tech\/google-spacex-kosmichni-data-tsentry\/\">Data centre locations<\/a> Space-based computing could be the answer to the growing demand for computing power and the limited resources available on Earth. In particular, it could ease the strain on the planet\u2019s energy and water infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>However, experts emphasise that even such large-scale projects do not guarantee a rapid transition to a new type of civilisation. Energy efficiency, technological development and the advancement of information systems may prove more important than simply the total volume of energy consumed.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SpaceX plans to create orbital data centres by launching up to a million satellites. Musk regards this as the first step towards a Type II civilisation on the scale<\/p>","protected":false},"author":207433346,"featured_media":24263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_description":"\u0406\u043b\u043e\u043d \u041c\u0430\u0441\u043a \u043f\u043b\u0430\u043d\u0443\u0454 \u043e\u0440\u0431\u0456\u0442\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0456 \u0434\u0430\u0442\u0430-\u0446\u0435\u043d\u0442\u0440\u0438, \u043d\u0430\u0437\u0438\u0432\u0430\u044e\u0447\u0438 \u0446\u0435 \u0448\u043b\u044f\u0445\u043e\u043c \u0434\u043e \u0448\u043a\u0430\u043b\u0438 \u041a\u0430\u0440\u0434\u0430\u0448\u0435\u0432\u0430. \u041d\u0430\u0441\u043a\u0456\u043b\u044c\u043a\u0438 \u0440\u0435\u0430\u043b\u044c\u043d\u0438\u0439 \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0445\u0456\u0434 \u043b\u044e\u0434\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430 \u0434\u043e \u0435\u043d\u0435\u0440\u0433\u0456\u0457 \u0442\u0438\u043f\u0443 II?","rank_math_title":"\u041c\u0456\u043b\u044c\u0439\u043e\u043d \u0441\u0443\u043f\u0443\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0456\u0432 \u0406\u043b\u043e\u043d\u0430 \u041c\u0430\u0441\u043a\u0430: \u043a\u0440\u043e\u043a \u0434\u043e \u0446\u0438\u0432\u0456\u043b\u0456\u0437\u0430\u0446\u0456\u0457 \u0442\u0438\u043f\u0443 II","rank_math_focus_keyword":"\u041c\u0456\u043b\u044c\u0439\u043e\u043d \u0441\u0443\u043f\u0443\u0442\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0456\u0432,\u0448\u043a\u0430\u043b\u0430 \u041a\u0430\u0440\u0434\u0430\u0448\u0435\u0432\u0430","td_subtitle":"","subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[805620],"tags":[806764],"class_list":["post-24264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science-tech","tag-806764"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207433346"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24264"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24265,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24264\/revisions\/24265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrmedia.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}